Topic: Donkey Kong Bananza

@MarioVillager92 Indeed. I love Donkey Kong games, especially Rare's trilogy on SNES, which I consider absolutely essential and still present level design ideas copied by other developers, even by Nintendo, in their last platformer (Super Mario Bros. Wonder). What Dev-N says makes some sense, because the destruction mechanics are used since Donkey Kong Country, but they were just one piece of very well-thought levels. I'm not seeing the kind of gameplay I want to see, at least yet. I want to see the full levels being played when the game is out and I'm able to try it or at least watch other players. I really hope that the destruction mechanics are not the main gameplay element, because that gets old very quickly.

Not quite Bananza-related, but we got a new look at the redesign thanks to Nintendo Music:

I think putting these two side by side highlights strengths and weakness for both designs.

@N00BiSH Seeing them side by side makes the new DK look even worse. The old design was so much better, and all the changes in my opinion were negative ones. I wouldn’t really care if this was just the design for 1 game, but it seems like everything now will have him look like this.

@PikminMarioKirby you say it looks "even worse" without even specifying - people can have their preferences, but it's hard to take any complaints with the design seriously if they're worded so vaguely.

@N00BiSH It's a personal question and difficult to rationalise, but I also prefer Rare's design like @PikminMarioKirby. The new design is extremely goofy (I don't mean it as negative). Rare's design has more nuances, but looks both cool and daft and hits a difficult to achieve balance in character design.

@N00BiSH Fair point, it’s all pretty subjective but the thing above his eye is very much a toned down version of the Rare design which ends up looking off-putting, the eyes are much more cartoony and look like a Koopa Troopa, behind his eyes are too bright, and his nostrils feel a bit off (I could see why people wouldn’t mind that though)

I’ll always have a soft spot for Rare DK, but I’ve already gotten used to his redesign. Seeing him in action has helped a lot. It’s the perfect mix of the retro and modern. It somewhat feels to me like the comeback of his DK ‘94 look, from a game that ironically also launched the same year as Donkey Kong Country.

Rare DK was part of the “cool” 90’s trend, but like his artist said, he did look “annoyed” most of the time. Not that I really noticed, but going by the original DKC art and sprites, I can definitely see that. In contrast, new DK fits how Nintendo Today describes him, “a mild-mannered goofball.”

Seeing him strike his Returns pose makes me wonder why they didn’t bother redesigning him in Returns HD. That would’ve been a lot of reworking for a character model and cutscenes, but anything to have helped make that port stand out…

@PikminMarioKirby You mean his brow? That's a fair point - when pushing for other expression it looks great, but a neutral resting state, like as pictured, it does look a bit off and doesn't really communicate tough or dopey. I'd argue the eyes actually look closer to later Rare-designed characters like Banjo or Chunky Kong(God rest), and as for the nose I think it's an improvement - DK didn't even have an actual nose before, just nostrils. They tried to fix this in subtle ways, like in Tropical Freeze, but it just ended up looking off if anything.

I imagine that, like with the DK theme park, Returns HD and the new redesign were most likely being workshopped at different times, hence why the shift feels so jarring to some.

I think Bananza could end up struggling. MKWorld will do fine, most people will buy the bundle anyway like Nintendo suggests. But Bananza is the standalone test balloon for their much higher new pricing. Now we see third parties all go for a cheaper price… Bananza could be the single most expensive game at launch.

As for the game itself, previews sound a bit hesitant. Myself I was thinking “if this wasn’t a major Nintendo game this wouldn’t be my type of gameplay”. So… I wonder if it has more depth than we’ve seen so far. And I’m not willing to pay 80€.

@N00BiSH I feel like that's an unfortunate choice of pose/expression for new DK to try and emulate.
It looks more "what the hell am I doing" than "I'm taking charge!"

Still like the new design